1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of restraints and harnesses. More specifically, the invention relates to the field of harnesses used in cranes and earth moving equipment.
2. Background Art
Harnesses are commonly worn by various individuals since they (i.e. harnesses) are required for safety and/or comfort of the individual wearing them. Moreover, some harnesses are worn since they are required for performance of certain jobs or certain tasks. Some harnesses are worn for safety of others in addition to the person wearing the harness. Virtually every vehicle requires an individual operating the vehicle or an individual seated in the vehicle to wear a harness of some type. Examples of such vehicles are vehicles used for work, recreation, or general transportation.
Since a given job or task can be very different from other jobs or tasks, a harness used for each job or task should, in theory, be different from harnesses used for other jobs or tasks. Similarly, since a particular vehicle can be used for a purpose very different from the purpose for using other vehicles, harnesses used with different vehicles should be very different from one another. Thus, the specifics of each task and/or the purpose for using a vehicle should be fundamental factors in determining the type of harness that an individual should wear. To be sure, a variety of harnesses exist in the prior art that are used for different purposes. The patents and the sales brochure discussed below are directed to these different types of harnesses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,744 to Apodaca ("Apodaca") discloses a seat harness. Apodaca discloses a harness for use by crane operators. The harness includes a pair of torso straps which are secured to the back of the operator's seat. A pair of shoulder straps are also secured to the back of the operator's seat. Apodaca requires the operator's seat to be modified by the addition of four anchor portions. Apodaca also requires use of threaded anchor fasteners to fasten the anchors to the operator's seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,354 to Grene ("Grene") discloses a vehicle safety restraint for pregnant women. Grene teaches a safety restraint consisting of an upper torso strap and two short shoulder straps supporting the upper torso strap. Grene also discloses two thigh straps. Grene is directed to preventing the abdominal areas of a pregnant woman from contact with a restraint. In this manner, the pregnant woman is protected in case of sudden stops of a vehicle or an accident.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,211 to Bolcerek ("Bolcerek") discloses a child safety harness. The Bolcerek harness includes a chest pad, a back pad, shoulder pads, and a chest strap which can be connected between the chest pad and the back pad. Bolcerek also discloses a crotch strap which can be connected between the chest pad and the back pad. Bolcerek further discloses a loop through which a car seat belt is secured.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,966 to Parkinson et al ("Parkinson") discloses a child restraint device. The device consists of two shoulder straps. The shoulder straps are secured to the seat of a vehicle with the help of another strap and a buckle. The device also includes a coupling ring between the shoulder straps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,371 to Chao ("Chao") discloses a safety vest. Chao specifically discloses a vest that covers the entire body of a child to avoid accidental strangling of the child due to a tightened belt or strap. Moreover, Chao's vest is secured to a car's seat via the car's seat belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,698 to Harrison ("Harrison") discloses a harness for securing a child in a conventional chair. The Harrison's harness consists of one longitudinal strap, two parallel straps, and one elastic loop. The elastic loop is used to secure the harness to a chair.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,272 to Epstein ("Epstein") discloses a support harness for a child. Epstein's support harness consists of two loops to hold a toddler between the legs and a strap attached to the top of the loops for carrying the child. Parents of the child would guide the child to walk by controlling the harness by means of two handles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,474 to Rupert et al ("Rupert") discloses a safety harness consisting of a pair of shoulder straps connected to a pair of torso straps and a number or releasable fastening devices that get locked into fasteners attached to a vehicle seat. The safety harness includes a zipper in the back of the harness.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,670 to Owens discloses a safety harness for children for use on school buses. Owens' harness includes a torso strap and a chest strap. Owens harness must be permanently attached to the bus seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,691 to Lorch ("Lorch") discloses a harness system for restraining the torso of a crewman in an aircraft. U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,046 to Gordy et al ("Gordy") discloses a portable seat belt for restraining a child in a shopping cart. U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,425 to Barratt ("Barratt") discloses a passenger restraint system and U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,860 to Smith et al ("Smith") discloses a collapsible child seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,029 to Klickstein et al ("Klickstein"), U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,633 to Aizley ("Aizley"), U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,247 to Dillender ("Dillender"), U.S. Pat. No. 1,898,090 to Lethern ("Lethern"), U.S. Pat. No. 1,316,163 to Kennedy ("Kennedy"), and U.S. Pat. No. 1,298,615 to Wilkinson ("Wilkinson") all disclose various safety harnesses.
In addition to the above patents, a sales brochure dated 1997 and published by Kwic Products of Anaheim, Calif. discloses a product called Top Dog Back-Pro for use by drivers of cranes. The Top Dog Back-Pro product discloses two shoulder straps, a chin strap, and two torso straps. The shoulder straps, chin strap, and torso straps are all connected to each other and must be held together as a unit.
Unfortunately, there are no efficient and useful specialized harnesses designed for drivers of cranes and/or earth moving equipment. Up to now there is no known specialized harness that can be easily, efficiently, and practicably used by drivers of cranes and/or earth moving equipment that satisfies the particular needs of such drivers.
Some of the prior art harnesses that are currently used by some drivers of cranes and earth moving equipment require modifying the driver's seat with anchors in order to secure the harness to the seat. This requirement for modification creates the necessity of additional labor and parts to manufacture the driver's seat when the crane and/or earth moving equipment is being built. Moreover, drivers who have already purchased their crane or earth moving equipment have to spend their own time and also incur very large expenses for parts and labor to modify their seats to incorporate the required anchors. Further, some drivers who have already purchased their crane or earth moving equipment will find that the anchors have to be placed at particular seat locations where the seat has no strong surface to support such anchors. For those drivers, the seat is simply not modifiable to include the required anchors and as such the harness cannot be utilized at all.
Accordingly, there is serious need in the art for harnesses that meet the needs of drivers of crane and earth moving equipment. Such vehicles (i.e. cranes and earth moving equipment) require the driver to lean over to view a load or obstacle directly below his or her seat. Moreover, harnesses used in cranes and earth moving equipment must be worn with ease and must not require a person other than the driver to aid the driver in wearing the harness. Further, harnesses used in cranes and earth moving equipment must permit the driver to have great flexibility to operate the cranes or earth moving equipment with great control, especially when emergency situations require quick reactions by the driver. Thus, although some harness used for cranes and heavy equipment do not require a modification to the driver's seat, those harnesses require a person other than the driver to assist the driver to wear the harness; and, moreover, they (i.e. the harnesses) greatly reduce the mobility and flexibility of the driver in operating the crane or the earth moving equipment.
Thus, there is serious need in the art for a harness for use in cranes and earth moving equipment that solve the shortcomings of the prior art and meet the specific needs of drivers of cranes and earth moving equipment stated above. In addition to the shortcomings of the prior art harnesses in lacking flexibility, mobility, and ease of use required by drivers wearing harnesses for use in cranes and earth moving equipment, the prior art harnesses have other shortcomings.
For example, many of the prior art harnesses that are used in cranes and earth moving equipment do not act as a strong "fall arrest" device to prevent the driver from falling from his seat when the driver leans over to view loads or obstacles below his crane or earth moving equipment. Moreover, many of the prior art harnesses do not help in reducing an otherwise persistent pressure off of the driver's lower back, upper back, and neck muscles. With many of the prior art's harnesses, the driver of a crane or earth moving equipment has to keep his back and neck in an angled and leaning position for very long periods of time, for example for hours at a time. This results in driver fatigue and increases risk of fall due to fatigue and also increases risk of injury to the driver's back and neck muscles due to fatigue, and other medical problems associated with persistent pressure on a single group of muscles.
Another disadvantage of the prior art harnesses that are used with cranes and earth moving vehicles is that such harnesses have a large number of straps and other required components. This results in additional costs for labor and material and renders the prior art harnesses too expensive.